Voortaan twee keer per week psychotherapie bij depressie*

One way to improve the effects of psychotherapy for depression might be by increasing its session frequency. The FreqMech study is a Dutch multicenter trial that randomized 200 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) to one of the following conditions: a. Once weekly sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), b. Twice weekly sessions of CBT, c. Once weekly sessions of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), d. Twice weekly sessions of IPT. Patients in all conditions received up to a maximum of 20 sessions. Compared with patients who received weekly sessions, patients who received twice weekly sessions showed a statistically significant decrease in depressive symptoms (estimated mean difference between weekly and twice weekly sessions at month 6: 3.85 points, difference in effect size d = 0.55), lower attrition rates (n = 16 compared with n = 32) and an increased rate of response. In clinical practice settings, delivery of twice weekly sessions of CBT and IPT for depression might be a way to improve depression treatment outcomes.

Conflict of interest and financial support: This study was financially supported by ZonMw en Stichting tot Steun VCVGZ. These organizations were not involved in the design of the study, data collection, data analysis or the publication of the manuscript. ICMJE forms provided by the authors are available online along with the full text of this article.